Triple Triad
The is a popular card game in Final Fantasy VIII. According to the Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania the card game was created by a psychic named Orlan who modified fortune-telling cards for use in a game, coining the official name "Triple Triad."The New Seed Grows Further – More Translations from the Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania Keyword Section Triple Triad was initially played among soldiers, but spread to the common people and by the time of Final Fantasy VIII 's events, the game is extremely popular among all age groups. Much like Tetra Master from Final Fantasy IX, Triple Triad cards depict different monsters who have different stats. Designed by battle designer Hiroyuki Itō, Triple Triad is simply a side quest and is not needed in order to finish the game's story; however, the cards can be refined into items using Quezacotl's Card Mod ability. Many of the game's rarest items are most easily found by refining the cards. Playing the Game Setting Up and How to Play Triple Triad is played on a three-by-three (3x3) square grid of blank spaces, where cards will be placed as the game progresses. The cards depict various characters, monsters, and bosses from the game. Each card has four numbers (known as Ranks) placed in top left corner; each number corresponds to one of the four sides of the card. These numbers range from one to nine, the letter A representing ten. On the top right of the card there is sometimes an elemental symbol representing the card's element. The elements are Earth, Fire, Water, Poison, Holy, Lightning, Wind, and Ice. There are two card colors, pink (the opponent's cards) and blue (the player's cards). In a basic game of Triple Triad, each player has five cards. A coin-flip decision is made to decide which of the two players will begin. The player who wins the coin toss may then choose a card to play anywhere on the grid. After the first card is played, the opposing player may then play a card on any unoccupied space on the board. The game continues with players' turns alternating in this fashion. Winning To win, a majority of the total ten cards played (including the one card that is not placed on the board) must be of the player's card color. To do this, the player must capture cards. To capture a card, the player must place cards adjacent to an opponent's card, whereupon the 'Ranks' of the sides where the two cards touch will be compared. If the Rank of the opponent's card is higher then the player's card, the player's card will be captured and turned into the opponent's color. If, however, it is the player's rank that is higher, the opponent's card will be captured and changed into the player's color instead. Note that capturing can only occur during that player's turn, and no other opponent can capture a card during said turn. Sometimes a 'Draw' will occur due to the player and the opponent possessing equal numbers of cards in their color on the board. This is usually defined by a "Sudden Death" scenario where the first person to capture a card in a new game wins, or by playing until a winner is defined. The winner claims a prize of taking one or more of the loser's cards, depending upon the rules in effect. Types of Cards There are ten card levels in the game. Level 1 cards have low ranks like 1's and 2's and 3', while level 10 cards have 8's, 9's, and A's. The seven cards that Squall gets for free near the beginning of the game are all level 1. All the cards in level 1 to 7 can be obtained multiple times, whereas the GF and Player cards are rare, once-only finds. Rule Variations Special Rules There is a series of special rules in the Triple Triad game. Wherever the player starts playing (which is probably Balamb/Balamb Garden), they will start with the rules in Balamb, which are relatively simple. As they get out and challenge people in other parts of the world, new rules will be offered to be added to the game. After playing one person in a new region, the player might see a message that says "This rule has spread throughout the region" or that the current rule in their region has been abolished. The region in which the player last played a game of cards will determine what rules are passed on to the next one. Types of rules are as follows: By playing the game with a fishing Balamb Garden student in Balamb's harbour, the player can reset all rules that have been spread throughout the game, leaving just the Open rule available. Trade Rules Trade rules are rules that dictate which and how many cards the winner can take from the loser. They are as follows: The current Trade Rule can be changed by challenging the Queen of Cards. After winning a game with a different rule, the player must speak to her and check what the current trend of the trade rule is, and that rule will spread. It may take a couple of incidental games for the rule to catch on in the region. After awhile the rule may revert back to One but will randomly change between them. Side Quests Card Club Group In Balamb Garden there is a group of elite Triple Triad players that call themselves the Card Club. The best players in the Garden, their identities are a mystery until they reveal themselves to players they deem worthy. Their identities range from random NPCs wandering the Garden to people the player already knows. Queen of Cards For the first time the Queen of Cards can be found in Balamb, but after the player loses a rare care to her/wins the rare card back from her, she is found in random towns around the world. If the player finds her and takes on her side quest, they can go out and find even more rare cards. The goal is to get her to move to Dollet where her artist father will create new rare cards that can be won from certain people in the world. PuPu card PuPu is a little blue alien the player can encounter in battle in select areas around the world. Several things must be done in dealing with the alien to get its card. It is Level 5 and is the only rare card below Level 8. Cards Whenever the player completes the card collection, a yellow star will appear on the righthand side of the Card option in the Main Menu. Musical Themes The Triple Triad theme song is known as "Shuffle or Boogie". It is played whenever the player is engaged in a Triple Triad match. Trivia *Orlan, the psychic who invented the card game in the world of Final Fantasy VIII is a reference to Orran Durai from Final Fantasy Tactics. *In the Triple Triad tutorial one can spot a Black Mage in the background. Black Mages are a recurring job class in the series, first introduced in the original Final Fantasy. Other Appearances *In 1999, following Final Fantasy VIII 's release, Japanese games company Bandai produced a full set of collectible Triple Triad cards. The set was made up of the 110 cards as seen in the game along with 72 artwork cards and a collectors edition playing mat. Because the set was only released commercially in Japan and was not generally available in America or Europe, the cards have become a rare collectors item. *The game remains very popular, with many free third-party internet versions currently thriving online. These online editions often add new decks, and many have additional rule sets. External links Triple Triad Flash Online A fan made online version of Triple Triad, also available for Android : Triple Triad Flash Online for Android. References Thể_loại:Final Fantasy VIII Thể_loại:Minigames